Alleged Negro Plots.
- In 1712 the citizens of New York
were disturbed by apprehensions of a conspiracy of their negro
slaves to burn the city and destroy the inhabitants. The population
then was about 6,000, composed largely of slaves. Nineteen of those
suspected of the crime suffered. A more disastrous alarm about a
plot of the negroes for destroying the city occurred in the spring
and summer of 1741, when the population was about 10,000, one -
fifth of whom were negro slaves. The most prominent merchants of the
city were engaged in the slave-trade. Conscious of the natural
aspirations of the human soul for personal freedom, very stringent
rules had been adopted for the subordination of the slaves, and
every transgression was severely punished. Every act of
insubordination made the community tremble with fear of possible
consequences, and this feeling of insecurity needed only a slight
provocation to ripen into a general panic. A trifling robbery
occurred in March, 1741, in the house of a merchant, which was
traced to some negroes. Nine fires occurred in different parts of
the city soon afterwards, and though most of them were merely the
burning of chimneys, they produced terror. A general alarm was
instantly created in the public mind. Numerous arrests were made and
a searching investigation was instituted by the magistrates, but no
trace of incendiarism could be found. Three heavy rewards were
offered by the city authorities for the arrest and conviction of the
perpetrators, and a full pardon to such of them as should reveal a
knowledge of their crime and of their associates. An indentured
servant-woman (Mary Burton) purchased her liberty and secured a
reward of $500 by pretending to give information of a plot, formed
by a low tavern-keeper and her master and three negroes, to burn the
city and murder the white people. This story was confirmed by an
Irish prostitute, convicted of a robbery, who, to recommend herself
to mercy, turned informer. Many other arrests were now made among
the slaves and free negroes. The Supreme Court of the province was
specially convened for the investigation of the matter, and a grand
jury, composed of some of the principal inhabitants of the city,
held a solemn inquest. Other informers besides Mary Burton speedily
appeared, and fresh victims were seized. The panic and fury among
the population was fearful, and the authorities were stimulated
thereby to hurried inquiries, unjust convictions, and the infliction
of awful punishments on the innocent. The eight lawyers who then
composed the bar of New York all assisted, by turns, in the
prosecution. The negroes had no counsel, and were convicted and
executed on insufficient evidence. The lawyers vied with each other
in abusing the poor, terrified victims, and Chief-Justice De Lancey,
in passing sentence, vied with the lawyers in this abuse. Many
confessed to save their lives, and then accused others. John Ury, a
school-master, and reputed Roman Catholic priest, was denounced by
Mary Burton, and, not-withstanding his solemn protestations of
innocence and the absence of competent testimony to convict him, he
was hanged. His arrest was the signal for the arrest of other white
people, and the reign of terror was fearfully intensified; but, when
(as in the case of the Salem witchcraft excitement) Mary Burton
accused prominent persons known to be innocent, the delusion
instantly abated, the prisons were cleared of victims, and the
public mind was calmed. From May 11 until August 29, 154 negroes
were committed to prison, fourteen of whom were burned at the stake,
eighteen hanged, and seventy-one transported. During the same period
twenty-four white people were imprisoned, four of whom were hanged.
There was no more foundation for this insane panic about a negro
plot and its fearful consequences than there was for the witchcraft
delusion and its' terrible results. See WITCHCRAFT.

Site Copyright 2003-2018
Son of the South.
For Questions or comments about this collection,